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Another Poop Question, please read.

My DS is almost 4 months, at least 7 wet diapers a day and is growing like a weed.
All of a sudden 3 weeks ago he stopped pooping for 9 days and when he did we helped him with a thermometer in his rectum and the consistency was like peanut butter. Then the consistency went back to normal (thin seedy) for about 2 days and now he only poops every 5 days it is like peanut butter again. Prior to these poop problems, his poop was green. I read a lot that these things are normal, but WHY do they happen. My MIL insists it is something I am eating, I don't really think that is it. The only things I eat consume everyday is coffee and (ironically enough) is peanut butter. Can someone please help me because this is driving me nuts, not knowing why or what to expect next. Thank you.

Re: Another Poop Question, please read.

Completely normal. I wouldn't even call them poop problems - and you probably don't need to use the thermometer trick, either.

My kids went 7-10 days between poops. As long as it's not hard or dry when he goes, and he isn't straining, it's not constipation. The green is in the normal range of things, too. Mine got green poops whenever they came down with a cold or other virus, or even sometimes just because it's in the normal range of poop colors for a breastfed baby. Peanut butter is also a normal range for consistency.

Breastfed babies are very efficient about processing breastmilk, and since there's not much in breastmilk that babies don't need, you don't end up with a heck of a lot of waste (poop). Formula fed babies consume a lot of "extras" and process it as waste, so sometimes they have more frequent bms, but it's just that: waste.

ETA: If you are seeing green stools with blood, then I would reexamine the issue, but without the presence of blood, hard stools, straining, or discomfort, I wouldn't worry.

Re: Another Poop Question, please read.

with the PP. It's not what you're eating, it's not an allergy. Infrequent poops can be totally normal for a breastfed baby who is >6 weeks old, and whose digestive system has matured to use everything in your milk very completely. And I love how the PP explained the reason why formula-fed babies need to poop more often: all that waste!

The only caution I have for you is that when you have an infrequent pooper, you want to be careful what solids you introduce when you start at 6 months. You want to avoid potential constipators like bananas, apples, rice and rice cereal, white bread, and cheese- because if those foods did make your baby constipated it would be very difficult to catch the problem in a timely fashion. Does that make sense?